Iridescent Shark

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westward13

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Apr 28, 2004
Messages
75
Location
columbus oh
While I realize I might get a firm talking to for having an adolescent iridescent shark in my 75 gallon tank, I was hoping I might be able to get some advice as to why he's content to sit in the same spot in the tank (almost laying in the spot) for almost the entire day until I finally turn the lights off. I've read that they have a tendency to "play dead" but he does this all the time. He's been in there for about 2 weeks. At first, he wasn't eating but I've since picked up sinking catfish pellets which he likes. That said, he still just sits there looking around all day long. Can it be because the tinfoil barb gives him a hard time when he is actually swimming around? He shows no signs of ich (or anything else for that matter). My water parameters are:

Temp 82
pH 7.2
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 20ppm

Any ideas?
 
Have you tried observing him at night? Many catfish species are nocturnal, and behave exactly like this. My channel cat used to sit around like a bump on a log all day until he would start swimming around like crazy at dusk.

Over time he should become used to a more daylight oriented schedual, esp if this is the time at which he is fed.
 
With the lights out, the iridescent shark is definitely active from what I can tell. He's swimming around almost every morning when I come down and turn the lights on but once they're on, he's right back to his spot. I'm a little confused by him right now, though. He's gone to the other side of the tank to lay on/with/behind the new banjo cat that's buried itself in the sand.
 
Most catfish pick a spot in the tank and claim it as their own. They usually dont move from this spot until fed. Hope this helps. :D 8) 8O :roll: :wink: :!: :evil:
 
My Iridescent Shark Catfish had many of the same symptoms. While trying to diagnose the problem I referred to those symptoms as being "social" symptoms -as though he may be afraid of other fish and so on. Then I ended up thinking about the possibility that even though this species is diurnal, my particular Shark (Bruce is his name) might be nocturnal. I began getting up earlier then usual as sort of a 'test'. When I would wake up, I would try to make as little noise as possible (Bruce spooks very easily -like all Iridescents) and not turn on any lights at all. Heck, I wouldn't even move out of bed, I would only move enough to be able to view the aquarium. generally speaking, Bruce would be out and about acting like he used to when I initially introduced him to the aquarium. He was very social, not scared of any other fish and seemed to be flat out having a blast. It got to a point where I would make it a point to leave the lights out for extra long in the mornings to make sure he got excercise as all he did all day when the lights were on is sit in this one corner of the aquarium. He did not move AT ALL. He didn't even flutter his fins to keep equilibrium, he would just kind of float around. The only notable movement was his pupils looking around now and again. When night time would come around, maybe 30 minutes before I typically shut off the light, he would come out and start swimming around like he did in the mornings (he did this about 80% of the time) so that blew my mind needless to say..... I was flabbergasted until one day a friend of mine suggested that maybe the light is hurting poor Bruce, as in the light waves are actually causing him pain..... Well, one thing lead to another and I ended up finding out that when a fish is infected with a protozoan infestation they are typically sensitive to light and prefer extreme darkness.

I treated with Aquari-sol by Aquarium Products (Copper sulfate) at the rate of 12 drops per 10 gallons and immediately noticed a difference. Within 24 hours Bruce is completely back to normal and loving life!

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that you should go and treat with copper sulfate just because your shark seems 'lazy' or whatever but what I AM saying is that maybe they have a protozoan disease and the light is causing them pain? This is a possibility you may want to look into.

Bruce showed some physical signs of an infestation as well, he had black peppered spots on his belly, a white slimy coating developing, deep scratches from glancing off of aquarium decorations/gravel, minor fraying off his pectoral fin and classic velvet signs like browning around the lower fins and belly which grows worse and thicker as the days go by. All of these symptoms have now disappeared and today marks the third day that I have repeated the dosage of copper sulfate.

I hope that helps. I really hate to see Iridescents in distress :cry:

Joe
 
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